Revenge
by Cloudspots
Summary: The Twolegs have destroyed all the clans. There are few survivors left from the onslaught. On the night of his apprentice ceremony, Cloudpaw catches a glimpse of his long dead sister. He discovers she is part of the prophecy that could bring the clans back. Can he find his sister and the other chosen four before time runs out? P.S. Cloudspots in this story is not me! Friday updates
1. Training

**Training**

I cringed as my mother pounced on a mouse passing by our stump and broke his neck. She dragged him across the pine needles inside by the tail.

"I wanted rat!" I whined.

"We have to jump at the chance of any food to survive, Cloudkit." She replied.

"But I wanted rat!"

"We have to do what we must." She answered. She started to bite off small chunks of the mouse and throwing them onto the pine needles for me. Only me. I was born in this stump, in the heart of ThunderClan territory, located in where the camp used to be before it burned down. It was only me because Skykit was taken by the Twolegs and Birdkit ate the poison. It had all started when a a Windclan cat reported a strange, green oozing object that had Twoleg scent on it. As soon as someone put their paw on it to investigate, they died. Then the Twolegs started throwing more oozing balls into the forest right at us that exploded into ooze when they hit something. Almost all the cats in the forest died because of that or the Twolegs trapping them. It was only me and my mother along with some other stray survivors, including the last leader, Firestar. I sadly thought back to Birdkit and Skykit as I gnawed on my meat. They had only died because of the Twolegs. We were here first, they should never have laid one of their dirty paws on our land!

My mother interrupted my thoughts.

"You're almost six moons old! We should make the journey to Firestar soon!"

That cheered me up. To become an apprentice, and train with my mother! She had already taught me a few moves, to defend from stray cats.

One week later, my mother started to get me ready for the journey.

"We will be passing through Twoleg territory." She stated, "You will need to learn to defend against Twolegs."

She grabbed two moss heavy branches and leaned them against a tree.

"Those are the Twolegs legs. When a Twoleg comes near you, never jump onto its back or face. That will agitate it more. Aim for the legs, so they fall and become vulnerable."

After she explained, she demonstrated it to me. She first hid behind a bush and watched the "legs". Then she lifted her haunches up and pounced onto them. I carefully noted she didn't aim for the very bottom, a bit above so you can harm the ankles. She skillfully hooked her claws into the moss and swung the branches about, making them fall. She then aimed for something on the ground; which she told me was the head, and gripped onto it with full strength, scratching down the Twoleg's back.

"Now you try." She offered, propping the branches back up.

I nervously crouched underneath the spiny bush and watched the branches for movement. I then bent my legs, lifted my haunches, and sprang into the air at the branches. Frustratingly, I missed by a fraction of an inch as well as losing the element of surprise.

"Try again." Encouraged my mother.

And so I did. I backed into the bush, lifted my haunches, and jumped forwards. I made it! I hooked my claws under the moss, just as my mother had did, and shook the branches. The fell onto the forest floor. I tackled the imaginary head and scratched the imaginary back. I finally stood on top of the legs, panting, and proudly declared,

"Hooray for Cloudkit the Twoleg Slayer!"

I pummeled my mothers belly and defeated her, too.

My mother laughed. "I could never defeat the all mighty Cloudkit Twoleg Slayer!"

"Thats right you couldn't!" I replied triumphantly.

"Get off, silly. We should continue with your training. You passed the first level!" She declared.

"Yay!" I mewed happily.

"But first we should get you something to eat. Follow me. Watch my hunting technique."

She suggested.

I followed my mother as she slunk through the bushes, nose in the air. She flicked her head to the right. I saw a bird pecking at a beech nut on the ground.

"Stay quiet," She whispered, "And watch closely."

She crouched down and started to slowly walk forward, not disturbing a single leaf. The bird was completely unaware of our presence. She slowly lifted her haunches and prepared to pounce. She sprung off the ground, shooting high into the air before landing her paws directly on top of the bird. She went in for the finishing bite and brought it back to me. We shared it gratefully.

"Now you try." My mother said in between bites. She flicked her tail at a robin roosting on a nearby tree trunk. It looked tasty. I crouched down, just as my mother had shown me, and slowly slunk forwards, my tail just barely suspended off the ground. I bent my knees, getting ready for a well-aimed pounce. I jumped up high, and just as my paws reached the stump, the bird flew out of my grasp. I almost had it!

"Great job!" My mother congratulated me. "Next time, focus a bit more on your timing."

We continued on for hours, hunting, combat skills, and the apprentice ceremony. After a long day of training, I gratefully flopped down onto my little hay bed. My mother lay down beside me on her bed. She blinked her eyes slowly.

"Tomorrow, you'll learn much more." She said sleepily.

"Like what?" I inquired.

"All about our ancestors, StarClan. The cats in StarClan are cats that have died here, in the world of the living. Skykit and Birdkit are up there right now, watching over us."

Just then I felt a whole lot better, knowing that Skykit and Birdkit were up in there own clan.

"Good night." I said to mother.

"Good night, love." She said back to me.

I woke up to the morning chatter of birds and the crisp smell of fresh pine needles. I yawned and stretched my paws out in front of me luxuriously. I woke my mother with a poke to the belly.

"Wake up! It's time to learn about Starclan!" I squealed.

Mother yawned.

"First, I will tell you about the original three clans. They were called TigerClan, LeopardClan, and LionClan.

LionClan had beautiful flowing manes, and were brave and trustworthy. LeopardClan had amazing dark spots, and were stealthy and cunning. TigerClan had stunning black stripes against orange fur, and they were magnificent and powerful. They didn't always have those stripes, though. This is the story of how TigerClan got there stripes.

_When the big cats first walked the forest, TigerClan and LionClan both had pure gold coats, but only LionClan cats had a mane of long hair like the rays of the sun. The TigerClan cats wee jealous of these golden manes, and they were jealous of LeopardClan's ability to run faster than any other cats. Jealousy made them bitter, and they started hunting at night and keeping to the shadows during daytime..._"

She continued for a long time before she finally finished the story. She also told another story, How LeopardClan won the river.

When she finished, I looked around for wild boar. They sounded scary.

"Enough about the original three clans, lets get on with StarClan." She declared.

"StarClan is the place where all good cats go when they die, such as the clan leaders. It's where you and I will go when it's our time. Birdkit and Skykit are up there, as I said before. They have all the thing other clans have, hunting territory, a camp, and warrior and apprentice ceremonies. They have a medicine cat, but no leader." My eyes bulged. No leader? Who would tell them when to go on hunting trips and do the ceremonies? I shared my thoughts out loud.

"They don't need a leader, they're all the leader." She answered.

"Oh."

"Lets continue. All the bad cats go to The Place of No Stars when they die, because they have done very bad things, like killing there Clanmates."

"Who would do that!?" I exclaimed.

"The cats in The Place of No Stars."

"They must be really bad to kill there own Clanmates."

"Yes, they are very bad cats." She mewed. "Now you are ready to become an apprentice."

"When do we leave, when do we leave!?" I said with joy.

"Bright and early tomorrow morning." She replied.

"Go back inside and wait for me. I'll go catch you a mouse."


	2. Apprenticeship

**Apprenticeship**

I stretched my legs out and arched my back. I started carefully grooming my tortoiseshell fur in preparation for my apprentice ceremony.

"You needn't do that, it's a three day journey, you'll just be dirty again within the first hour!" My mother objected.

I stopped in mid-lick and looked up at my mother.

"More like right now!" I shouted. I tackled my mother and we rolled about in the hay. My fur coat was ragged in no time.

"Now you've done it!" She exclaimed between laughs. "Lets get going before you get too dirty."

We began to trudge across the dead pine needles strewn across the forest floor towards Brown Rock, where Firestar lives by himself. We didn't say a word for a while, until I got unbearably hungry.

"I'm hungry." I said to my mother. "Can we stop to hunt?"

"Of course." She answered.

My mother began to pad away, sniffing the air for signs of prey.

I eagerly followed.

"You should stay here," My mother objected, "You look very tired."

I was. Even though I wanted to go and hunt, I was grateful for the little sleep I had.

I woke up, and my mother still wasn't back yet. I followed the gurgling noise of the stream to its bank and lapped up the ice cold water.

When I returned to the fern patch where I was before, my mother was back, standing before a rabbit and a blue jay.

I ate and ate until my stomach felt as if it would burst. We may not get another meal for a while.

We soon stumbled across a huge plain of burnt grass and charred trees. It was all black, white and gray. Nothing else except the forest we were about to leave behind. Until I noticed one green, healthy leaf left in the middle of the wreckage. It gave me hope, that we would rebuild the clans one day. One day. I placed one paw onto the charred earth and immediately drew back, horrified by the stench.

"It's okay. Just keep walking." my mother reassured me. So I did. I kept walking until the sky went black and the stars came out of hiding.

"It's night. We won't be able to see a thing if we continue, with the black landscape and dark sky. Lets settle in." My mother suggested. I sniffed out a small, partially un-burned bush to shelter under during the night. I lay down and burnt leaves crinkled under me. My mother lay down beside me, to keep me warm during the frigid night.

I awoke, not to the usual chatter of birds, but my mother stirring beside me.

"It's time to go." She whispered.

I stood up and arched my back in a stretch. The dark, dead leaves rustled around me. I shook them out of my fur dismissively. I walked out of the cover of the bush and squinted at the brightness of the sun on the horizon. The pink and orange sky was beautiful, even though it was surrounded by desolate plain. No birds tweeted. There were no places for them to roost or nest. Not single leaf stirred. No wind dared to blow. It was calming, in an unusual sort of way. My mother stalked out behind me, rustling the bush, and stood at my side, admiring the sunrise as I did. She nudged my side, interrupting the silent beauty.

"We should leave, so we can return to the forest tonight." She suggested. We sent off, gradually leaving the plain behind us to reveal bits and pieces of the forest ahead. Green leaves were scattered about the ground and sparse in the soon dead trees.

I went hunting with me mother when the burnt plain thinned out to reveal some forest. I caught a black bird, just barely, by plucking out of the sky with one claw while it was trying to fly away. My mother didn't catch anything, so we split the blackbird between us after drinking from a muddy nearby puddle.

By nightfall, just as mother predicted, we reached the edge of the full forest and settled down into a fallen, hollow tree trunk. I ripped moss of the trunk of a nearby tree and placed it in the log for a make-shift bed. My mother did the same and gathered ferns as extra bedding for each of us. I soon drifted off to sleep peacefully.

The next day we got off to a good start, bright and early, just before the sun ascended into alignment with the horizon. The leaves crinkled under our paws. I smelled the morning forest air. It was crisp, but with an odd taint to it. My mother stiffened.

"Get down!" She whispered.

She dove into a bush and I jumped in beside her.

"What is it?" I asked in wonder.

"A fox, keep quiet!" She hissed.

I peeked out of the bush and saw a red velvet pelt maneuvering in between bushes and trees. It turned around and faced the bush we were hiding in. I tucked my head back into the thorny bush. It's spiny leaves scraped my nose.

"Follow me." My mother whispered urgently.

She backed out of the bush, away from the fox. I quietly followed close behind. I rustled one stray leave with my paw and the foxes head snapped to face me. It snarled, then stalked forwards.

"Run!" My mother ordered.

My mother came out from the cover and started sprinting away. I ran after. I could feel the foxes hot breath on my tail. I ran faster, out of fear. I looked behind me to see the foxes jaws opening wide to bite down on me. Its white, pointed teeth glinted in the sunlight. My mother turned around and looked at me with wide, scared eyes, then ran back to me. She growled and tackled the fox.

"Keep going!" She said in between growls. "Wait for me at moss-rock!"

I ran as fast as my short paws could carry me and darted underneath the moss-rock, just as mother told me to.

I looked back. I could see my mother and the fox, both fighting relentlessly for their lives as they scattered pine needles every which way.

I was scared for my mother as she caught the foxes tail in between her jaws while the fox scraped at her exposed flank with dirty, stubby claws. Blood welled from a nick on her nose. My mother rose her paw into the air and smashed it down on the foxes head. The fox shook its head, dizzy, then limped away, defeated.

I gently pressed some fresh cobwebs onto a gash in my mother's flank. She gasped as I put more pressure on it. I quickly released my paw, afraid of hurting her.

"It's okay," She reassured me, "I'll be fine."

I continued to press on cobwebs and wrap them around my mother's belly. I knew what to do because I had originally wanted to be a medicine cat. Medicine cat's help everyone, just like warriors. They are like warriors, but in a different way. They also have dreams from StarClan. I couldn't become a medicine cat because there was no one to train me after the Twolegs came. Maybe one day I would get my chance.

We set off again a few days later, after my mother could walk without pain again. While she was injured, I caught the prey for both of us. I was progressively getting to be a better hunter.

We were almost at Brown Rock, where Firestar's den is, when we caught a glimpse of cat eyes peeking out at us from a bush. My mother sniffed the air, stiff, then relaxed when she recognized the scent.

"It's okay, Firestar, its me, Applebee." My mother directed to the bush.

Firestar crawled out from behind the bush and greeted my mother. He then looked questioningly at me.

"Who's this?" He asked my mother, while still looking at me.

"That's Cloudkit, we're here for his apprentice ceremony." She replied.

Firestar nodded and looked at me.

"That's great!" Firestar exclaimed. "Follow me."

We followed Firestar until we got to the heart of Brown Rock. He sat down at the foot of the rock then began bounding up to the top. He soon looked down at me from above. My mother backed up.

"Cloudkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Cloudpaw. Your mentor will be Applebee. I hope Applebee will pass on all she knows to you."

"Applebee, come forward."

My mother came forward to step before Brown Rock.

"Applebee, you are ready to take on a apprentice. You have received excellent training from your former mentor, Bumblewish, and you have shown yourself to be brave and caring. You will be the mentor of Cloudpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Cloudpaw."

I walked over to my new mentor, Applebee, and we touched noses.

Firestar smiled.

"I hope you have many prey-plentiful moons to come." He declared. "I am going on a long journey to the mountains to see the Tribe of Rushing Water. I hope they have not been wiped out by the Twolegs as well."

I dipped my head to Firestar and began to head out with my mother. The stars and moon were out.

I stopped in my tracks as I spotted movement in a nearby bush. I swung my head where the movement had come from. My mother didn't seem to notice. I saw a black pelt, as dark as the night sky, and deep green eyes. It couldn't possibly be, but it resembled my sister, Birdkit. She seemed to mouth 'Help me'. I blinked my eyes and she vanished. I shook my head to clear it of the vision, then sprinted to catch up with my mother.

It was only a vision, I told myself, only a dream.


	3. Dreams

**Dreams**

I could hear screaming. So much screaming. Cats screaming in pain, grief, and desperation. I couldn't stand the screaming. It slowly died down. I saw Birdkit, locked in battle with another cat near a cliffside. She must have been seven tails away from falling. The other cat mercilessly scratched at her throat and bit at her ears, though not one of them was bleeding.

"Help me!" Birdkit cried.

I tried to run to her and attack the other cat, but my paws stayed rooted to the spot. My eyes would not close, only let me watch the scene playing out before me. I imagined her falling off the cliff, into whatever lies in the abyss below. I would not let that happen.

The scene switched to the bank of a river. Cats were fighting against Twolegs across it. The Twolegs fell, but the cats fell quicker. Soon there was no one left but one warrior. One fighting against an army of hundreds. He still managed to hold them back, but slowly, they were gaining ground.

Once again, I could not cross the river to fight along side the last cat standing.

I woke with a start back in my stump. We had quickly made the journey back home after I was apprenticed.

I thought about Birdkit. She had appeared at my apprentice ceremony last night, and just moments ago in my dreams. Would she visit me in my dreams more, would I see her in visions, or no more at all? I didn't know what to expect. Birdkit must not be a kit anymore, if she's in StarClan or alive. She might even be a warrior, she was in my mother's first litter, I was in her second along with Skykit.

For the next few days, my mother trained me in hunting and fighting. Every day I would go out hunting and bring back prey for my mother and I. I hadn't had anymore dreams about Birdkit. I doubted I would have anymore. That night when I settled down to sleep, I started dreaming about Birdkit once more.

She was still fighting with the other cat and still unharmed. She seemed half a tail closer to falling then last time. They didn't notice me because they were so focused on their battle. Or maybe they couldn't see me at all. The scene switched to the cat fighting the Twoleg. It had fallen even farther back towards the forest and defeat. It had not given up yet. More Twolegs had amassed to fight against him. He was beginning to look weary. Instead of waking up, my vision switched to yet another scene. This time it showed me, running across plain and through forests. I was running from something, maybe to something, yet I didn't know.

The rest of the night was a dreamless peace.

I soon woke up to the familiar chatter of birds and clicking of bugs. I ignored my thoughts about the dreams I was having and stayed incredibly focused to my training.

I bent my knees and lifted my haunches as I watched a bird sitting on a brach below the one I was currently perched on. It pecked at the tree bark and flicked its head about, scanning the ground for nuts. Just as it spread its wings to take off toward a nut, I sprang down on to it and captured it in between my paws. The branch swayed under my weight. I jumped down from the tree and brought the robin to our fresh-kill pile, located in a pocket within the stump. At the moment it contained a robin, a black bird, and a water vole. I realized I was hungry and snatched back up my robin. I took it to a tiny stump outside and chewed on a wing. I quickly finished it, since I was so famished before, and went to take a drink at the creek. I lapped up the icy cold water and the chill spread through my body into my paws and tail. I shivered.

One uneventful moon had past until I saw Birdkit again.

I was hunting alone. I was in the air, pouncing on a vole, when the bushes rustled and the vole skittered under a tree. I growled in frustration. My head whipped towards the bush and I saw my sister. She had her forest green eyes trained on me. She silently motioned for me to come towards her and backed into the bush. I walked over and crawled through the bush to meet her on the other side. She sat down, tucking her tail around her paws. Her dark fur shone in the morning sunlight.

"I am part of a prophecy," Birdkit declared, "a prophecy that could bring the clans back."

"You must go to Firestar and repeat these words."

_"The moon shines on darkened water through gray clouds._

_It drips below the falls onto paws of destiny._

_Claws slash and jaws clench as battle rages under the water._

_When the stars emerge from breaking dawn_

_the stars will face the battle_

_and all will fall silent."_

"What does it mean?" I asked in awe.

"It means the time has come. You must deliver this message to Firestar before time runs out, or all will fall silent." With that she fled into the forest. I followed her, but when she curved around a tree, she vanished.


	4. Skykit

**Skykit (Short Chapter)**

Skykit's P.O.V.

I watched my brother Cloudpaw as he aimlessly wandered around, searching for Birdkit. He would not find her, not now. He eventually gave up looking and walked back to the stump to share prey with our mother.

A tail settled on my shoulder. I jumped. It was Bluestar.

"Stop worrying, Cloudpaw will be ok." Bluestar reassured me.

But I couldn't stop worrying.

I wonder if he knows StarClan sent him those dreams and visions.


	5. Tricks

**Tricks (Short Chapter)**

Cloudpaw's P.O.V.

"What do you mean, go to the mountains?" My mother inquired.

"I got a prophecy from my sister-" I began.

"You know your sister is dead, Cloudpaw!"

"But I saw her, and StarClan sent me dreams!"

"StarClan cannot help us!" My mother shouted, "They abandoned us in our time of need! I have never believed in Starclan, and you needn't either!"

She whipped around and angrily walked back to our stump.

My mother didn't believe in StarClan? Ever since I was born, she had told me all about StarClan, and now she tells me she doesn't believe in StarClan?

I sprinted away from the stump and started hunting to blow off steam.

I soon caught a black bird, but did not bring it back to the stump to share with my mother. I settled down in the pine needles and hungrily ate it after lapping up some water from the stream.

I decided I would leave tomorrow night. I know I would never lie to my mother, but this time I must. To save the clans and my sister. All throughout the day I was wandering through the forest looking for traveling herbs. I managed to find some sorrel and daisy to eat before I set off tonight. I bundled them up in a dock leaf and hid them under a root near our stump. After that I trained with my mother then settled down to sleep.

I waited until my mother's breathing slowed and she was fully asleep before climbing out of the stump and fetching the herbs. I quickly licked up the daisy and sorrel. They left a funny taste in my mouth.

I knew which way the mountains were, I think. Firestar had pointed his nose toward WindClan territory when he was speaking of his journey. It is probably beyond that. I began to sprint up toward WindClan, kicking up pine needles in my wake. I wanted to cover as much distance as I could tonight. I soon reached Four Trees and rested beneath the Great Rock before setting off once more.


	6. Lost

**Lost (Short Chapter)**

Applebee's P.O.V.

"Cloudpaw," I grumbled, not yet opening my eyes. "Do you want to hunt together today?"

I smelled the fresh pine needles and prey moving about the forest. One thing was missing. I stiffened and opened my eyes. Cloudpaw wasn't beside me. I jumped to my paws and began to call his name.

"Cloudpaw? Cloudpaw!"

His scent was old, maybe he was last here last night. I began to follow his scent trail. I followed it to Four Trees and then stopped to rest. I followed it a bit farther before I realized where he had gone. To the mountains.

I felt horrible. I had lost my last kit. I had tried to protect him with my life before, but now all that doesn't matter. He is gone. He could already be at Barley's shack by now. Or dead.

I cannot catch up to him now.

My last kit is on his last adventure.

And he will not come back.

He is lost.


End file.
